Page 34 of Between Two Kings

Of course it would be viewed that way. Every custom that directly railed against her human side was a mortal insult to the basilisks if she refused. There was no neutrality here, no way to stay in the middle. She was always choosing a side.

“It just seems so”—Tem searched for the right word, settling finally on—“invasive. Won’t I be intruding?”

Caspen shook his head. “You must dispel your human notions of sex, Tem.”

“I know that. But still.”

“They want you to watch them.”

She gave him a look.

“We do things differently here. You know this.”

Tem did know this. “Any other duties I should be aware of?”

Caspen’s mouth twitched. “Nothing comes to mind.”

Tem rolled her eyes. Surely there were more. And surely, they would surprise her. But that was the nature of her life beneath the mountain. She’d come to expect the extraordinary. “So I just…watch them? And that’s how I bless them?”

Caspen looked suddenly apprehensive. Dread filled her stomach.

“Caspen,” she insisted. “How exactly do I bless them?”

“You need only watch them. But it is also customary to enjoy yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you are welcome to…indulge.”

“Indulge in what?”

Finally, the truth came: “You may touch yourself if you wish.”

Tem blushed. For all the times she’d pleasured herself, she’d never done so while watching two people have sex. The entire concept of using the couple as inspiration was absolutely foreign to Tem.

The courtyard was still silent. The couple was still looking at her. Everyone was looking at her. Tem was suddenly self-conscious and moved their conversation to her mind:

I don’t understand. How is that a blessing?

Technically, it is not. In order to bless them, you must climax to the sight of them.

WHAT?

It is to show your approval.

Tem didn’t even have a response for that. Perhaps no response was sufficient.

Why did everyone have to be so involved? It had required an entire ritual for her to be with Caspen. And now this couple sought her approval. Even when Tem was on the other side, in the position of power, these traditions baffled her. It seemed unbelievable that she would be so enmeshed in everyone’s personal lives. Tem hardly felt worthy of such responsibility. But she also understood that the basilisks were a community. They made their decisions together. Everything was a group effort, a group project. There was no point in resisting this, just as there was no point in resisting anything else that happened here.

So Tem stepped forward.

The moment she moved, the crowd parted for her, and she approached the couple with Caspen at her side. They bowed first to her, then to Caspen. Tem didn’t know what to do, so she simply nodded in return. The couple smiled. Then they stepped onto the mattress. A moment later they were kissing.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tem saw Caspen take a step backward. She understood his retreat. This was her duty; they sought Tem’s blessing, not Caspen’s. Still, she wished he would stay by her side. Standing here alone with so many eyes on her was extremely nerve-racking.

You may kneel, Tem. Or do anything that feels comfortable.

But nothing felt comfortable. Everything felt open and exposed and public, as if the most vulnerable parts of her were about to be laid bare. It was one thing to witness casual sex in the passageway or the banquet hall. It was another thing entirely to see it three feet away, solely for her pleasure, and with the expectation that she would touch herself to it. It was too intimate—too personal. For all the times she’d seen basilisks having sex in the past week, it had never been like this, never seeking her approval.